2. Get a good night's sleep beforehand. Even though it's tempting, try not to leave in the early hours of the morning as you'll be tired by mid-afternoon. If a friend or family member is a competent driver and you're travelling together, share the workload.

3. Avoid travelling in poor weather. Be mindful that rain often brings with it strong cross-winds that can affect the high-speed stability of cars, especially at freeway speeds.

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4. Ensure your vehicle is sound and roadworthy. Check your tyres have a legal tread depth and are properly inflated.

5. Plan your journey and allow more time, given the likely traffic delays.

8. Pack your car safely. Make sure you can see out all windows. Don't load any objects on the rear shelf or dashboard - they can become deadly projectiles when braking suddenly.

9. Drive to the conditions. If it's wet, foggy, or the sun is setting behind you, turn on your headlights.

10. Keep a safe distance from the car in front. By having a larger gap (a safety buffer) you can get a better view of the conditions ahead and if someone is turning or braking suddenly. This gives you more time to react.

... and some others you might not have heard of

1. Don't let your front passenger put their feet up on the dash, especially if your car is equipped with a front passenger's airbag. Airbags are explosive devices. In a crash where the airbags are activated, the front-seat passenger could end up with their ankles around their ears - and receive severe injuries as a result.

2. If you have car-seat covers, check that they are not covering side airbags mounted in the seats. Some side airbags are housed in the door skins, roof lining or seats. Check your car's manual.

3. Check that the spare tyre is inflated and that the jack and tools are in place - especially if you bought the car used. The previous owner may have used it and not replaced it.

4. If you get a flat tyre on a busy stretch of road, try to drive the car slowly (say, at walking pace) to a safe area away from the side of the road (a side street or rest area perhaps). If it's a freeway, try to park in an emergency phone bay, where you're protected by a steel fence. Do not change the tyre on the side of the freeway or any busy road.

5. If you run out of petrol: be warned. Refuelling a car in the breakdown lane of a freeway is dangerous - especially if your car's fuel tank is on the traffic side of the road. Try to wait for a break in the traffic if you must fill up on the traffic-side of the car. Better still, push it out of harm's way.

6. Take plenty of food and drink, preferably water. This will save you money, too, as highway petrol stations aren't afraid to hold motorists to ransom. Fruit and nuts are best as they release their energy in less of a rush than do sugar-filled junk foods, according to nutrition experts. Snack food and soft drinks can deliver a sugar rush but then you eventually get a sugar low. Natural is best.

7. If an animal jumps out in the middle of the road, brake if it's safe to do so but don't swerve to miss it. As much as animal-lovers ­- including the worthy WIRES rescue volunteers - want to save the lives of animals, they recommend that drivers don't swerve. It's better to have a dead joey than a dead family. Swerving, especially at freeway speeds, upsets the balance of the car and greatly increases the risk of a crash or roll-over.

8. If you brake with such force that your car's anti-lock brakes are triggered (you may hear or feel a pulsating sensation through the brake pedal) keep firm pressure on the pedal - do not take your foot off, as some drivers wrongly do. ABS requires full pedal pressure to be the most effective.

9. Drive with your headlights on, even during the day. Dark cars especially can blend in with the shadows on tree-covered country roads, but headlights on during the day can even be handy on freeways and city and suburban driving. Drivers of other cars have a greater chance of seeing you and may not overtake or pull out in front of you. (Just don't forget to turn your lights off, otherwise you'll be left with a flat battery).

10. Make sure your windscreen - inside and out - is clean and check your car's wiper blades are free of debris. If it rains, then you won't be looking through porridge. This is not product placement but we're also a huge fan of Rainex. It's a solution that you apply like polish to your windscreen and it ensures that water simply beads off. It's about $10 for a small bottle. Brilliant invention.

11. If it's raining and the inside of your windscreen has fogged up, switch on the air-conditioning to remove the humidity. Hot or cold, the air-conditioning should have your windows clear in less than a minute. If you need to wipe the windscreen, pull to the side of the road or somewhere safe. Don't clean and drive at the same time.

12. If you're travelling at freeway speeds and suddenly see a bank-up of traffic, give your hazard lights a quick flash as you're braking. This should catch the attention of the cars behind you. Only leave the hazards on for a few seconds. This is common practice in Europe. In fact, some cars (such as the Citroen C3, for example) momentarily activate the hazard lights automatically when you apply full braking force. Check that the hazard light switch is easy to reach, and familiarise yourself with its position before your journey. In a new Holden Commodore the hazard light switch is below the air vents in the centre of the dash. The Ford Falcon's switch is more awkwardly placed: it's hidden on the instrument panel behind the top-left section of the steering wheel.